17.3.12

Carnival Of Souls (1962)

One of my favorite films is Herk Harvey's tragically under-appreciated Carnival Of Souls. It's surprisingly beautiful and innovative for a cheap "B" horror flick, though that very low-budget quality gives it an authentic oddness no expensive Hollywood production could ever approach. Shot in grainy black-and-white, it presents a stark and frightening version of midcentury Americana. Permeated by an unsettling atmosphere of strangeness and loneliness, and the most haunting organ score, the film is so profoundly eerie. Indeed, despite all the spine-tingling suspense, I've found it lends itself well to rewatching, just for the dreamlike spookiness it evokes. And I am simply fascinated by the decadent wreck of an amusement park that haunts the heroine.

Here are some [blurry] screenshots I've snapped......

Apparently the pavilion scenes were shot on location; it's a real place, called the Saltair Pavilion!

Unfortunately, the building we see in the film burned down in the '70s, and although replaced by a new one, it does not seem to be quite so charming:

"In 2005 several investors from the music industry pooled together to purchase the building and are now holding regular concerts there.... On February 18, 2011, Ke$ha performed to a sold out crowd on her Get Sleazy Tour." (Wikipedia)

What a shame, I'd have loved to visit it in its glory days (or in its state of glorious decay).

Have you seen Carnival of Souls? Isn't it marvelously creepy? If you haven't yet, it is available in public domain and can be found for free just about everywhere (Netflix, YouTube, Archive.org). I throughly recommend giving it a watch this weekend!!

15 comments:

I've seen this movie a couple of years ago! I was watching TV and changing channels when I came across this movie, and I kept watching because it was so captivating and haunting. I didn't know the title because I started watching after the intro credits so I had to look it up afterwards. I must watch it again sometime! :)

Yes, yes! I haven't seen this in years but was initially drawn to it when I heard that it had inspired David Lynch's 'Mulholland Drive'. I completely agree that the low-budget quality adds to the eeriness - to me, it seems more real because of this. Especially creepy is that man that lives in her boarding house (shudder). Thanks for your post, I definitely need to re-watch this!

Yes! I love this movie! It was one of the...6 films on a pack I got for $2 (all public domain) & I just love it. I did one of my Silver Screen Sunday posts on it a while back now. :) I think the lead actress looks like a long lost Arquette (especially around the mouth/her teeth!)-Andi x

I remember seeing this after buying one of those cheapie AMC box horror sets with "Night Tide", "Night of the Living Dead", annnnd... something with John Carradine in it, I don't remember. I watched this and Night of the Living Dead first and what a high bar it set for the rest of the (disappointing even without the unrealized expectations) set! The atmosphere, and the organ music, just gives me the heebies every time. It's shame about that Saltair pavilion!

My brothers and I used to watch this all the time when I was a child. I love how freaky it is. I thought the place it was filmed was really creepy but so cool. The whole concept of this movie was original and horrific!

N.B.

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